Some wireless networks are made up of wireless network nodes through which subscribers with suitable wireless devices can access communication services. It is common to have wireless nodes with multiple antennas for communicating with other nearby nodes. Each of the antennas is designed to provide gain that is appropriate over a nominal distance—other wise known as link range—between wireless network nodes. An example spacing (or link range) between wireless network nodes is of the order of 150-200 meters.
The antennas provide an expected/designed level of reliability and data rate that is more-or-less guaranteed within the link range. For communications over distances longer than the designed link range, signals need to be routed through one or more intermediate wireless network nodes to bridge the gap between distant wireless network nodes. The intermediate wireless network nodes, if not required for anything else, add additional expense to a wireless network.
An alternative to introducing an intermediate wireless network node is to make the antennas larger, increasing their directionality, so that the link range is lengthened. However, longer link ranges are not required in nominal situations and antennas with increased directionality may in fact limit the performance of a wireless network as a whole since more precise alignment and locking techniques are required to establish and maintain transit links between constituent wireless network nodes. Another problem with increasing the directionality (or gain) of the antennas by making them larger is that such modifications will make the antennas undesirably large.